CONGRATULATIONS!!
Kristin Strohmeyer has just written to say:
" The votes are in and Waterville has won second place in this year's 'It's a Zoo!' Theatre Competition! (Yippee!) I think second warrants a trip to the Syracuse Zoo for cast and crew."
(I've checked both the O-D and WKTV for more coverage, but they were busy with other things.)
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It's Garbage Day!
38.7 degrees.
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VILLAGE BOARD MEETING
tonight at 7:00
at the Municipal Hall
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Yesterday was thoroughly dank and dreary! (Rainy and cold.)
The village looked deserted and even the parking lot at Alcotts, which had been jam-packed for the past several days - was nearly vacant.
A lone fisherman made his way along the side of Chittening Pond, scattering a few Canada Geese who have taken up residence there.
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I have received a nice letter from Melissa Goodwin Green of Flagstaff Arizona - WCS '96.
She's just found the blog and loves reading about Waterville. If anyone wants to write to her, I'll be glad to forward your E-letters to her!
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38.7 degrees.
WKTV's forecast: "We're going to be stuck in a weather rut over the next several days in Central New York. Below normal temperatures and showers can be expected for the next several days. Monday looks downright chilly with highs only in the upper 40s with occasional showers."
************
VILLAGE BOARD MEETING
tonight at 7:00
at the Municipal Hall
*********************************
Yesterday was thoroughly dank and dreary! (Rainy and cold.)
The village looked deserted and even the parking lot at Alcotts, which had been jam-packed for the past several days - was nearly vacant.
A lone fisherman made his way along the side of Chittening Pond, scattering a few Canada Geese who have taken up residence there.
**************
I have received a nice letter from Melissa Goodwin Green of Flagstaff Arizona - WCS '96.
She's just found the blog and loves reading about Waterville. If anyone wants to write to her, I'll be glad to forward your E-letters to her!
*************
These two pictures have come from Lyn Rhein in Stuttgart, Arkansas. She writes,
"Last Sat., May 10, a EF3 tornado touched down in our city doing extensive damage as you can see by the attached pictures. Thankfully, no one was killed and there were only 9 injuries--none serious. The damage is unbelievable--some house completely flattened, business destroyed, huge trees uprooted falling on houses, more than 300 utility poles either snapped off or just pulled from the ground, wires everywhere. Clean up has gone very well this week with lots and lots of help--Salvation Army, Red Cross, FEMA, neighboring communities. Arkansas has had over 40 tornadoes this year already, and the "season" still has a month to go."
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When Paul Fleischmann saw the picture of the "Eastern Star Home" on the blog, he wrote and asked me if the name "Illahee" meant anything to me: no, not really. However ............. I typed it into the "search" block for The Waterville Times" and spent the rest of the weekend reading about actress Anna Cleveland James!
I'm not going to put everything that I learned about her here, right now, but - just to jog some more memories or invite your interest:
The Eastern Star Home existed in Waterville for only ten years or so, and then the facilities were moved to Oriskany. Miss Cleveland, who had grown up in Waterville, had become a fairly famous actress in Hollywood and New York and purchased the property in 1918. By 1919 she's in Waterville at her home, "Illahee." Until then, she had stayed with her aunt, Mrs. Hermon Clarke, on Stafford Avenue. (The Clark home was the "mystery house" of about a year ago and - having been moved to acomodate the old school - is now the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Carentz on E. Bacon St.)
Miss Cleveland was married, first, to a Mr. Belknap or Buckley and they had a daughter Anna Cleveland . Then she was married to Harry James, father of her son, Cleveland James. Mr. James died in 1921, and so the actress and her two small children made their home at "Illahee," entertaining out-of town guests nearly all the time (according to the Social Column.) From time to time, she traveled to New York, appearing in George M. Cohen's original production of "So this is London" and also in some silent films. She once suggested opening a complete movie studio here in Waterville!
(Skipping over lots of stuff) In 1934 "Illahee" became a Tea Room / Rooming House during the summer - Mrs. Barton entertained her bridge club there - and was completely closed during the winter, when Mrs. James took an apartment else where.
And this is where Paul's memory really kicked in, and he wrote:
"Our family had moved to Waterville about 1940 (I was a four year old at the time so can't recall the exact date) and lived on Tower Ave. For some reason we moved to the Putnam Mansion (corner of Stafford and Main) around 1944-45 and had an apartment on the first floor. And living upstairs was this grand lady named - Mrs. James! If memory serves me correctly, she was a descendant of Pres. Cleveland. Another 'connection' was the fact that my father, Dudley, was a business associate of Mrs. James' son-in-law, Baron Baron. I have no way of knowing if that connection between Dad and Baron was a result of meeting the James'and Barons at the Putnam Mansion or some other way. Baron and Anna James Baron visited Mrs. James and their children, Jimmy and Barrie, and we (Ann and I) used to play together when they were there. Anna Baron used to play Chopin's Polonaise on their grand piano in the evening (when I was supposed to be getting to sleep) . Another interesting fact about Anna Baron: She was a member of the WASP's (Women Airforce Service Pilots) during WW II and I recall seeing her in uniform on some of her visits.
When Paul Fleischmann saw the picture of the "Eastern Star Home" on the blog, he wrote and asked me if the name "Illahee" meant anything to me: no, not really. However ............. I typed it into the "search" block for The Waterville Times" and spent the rest of the weekend reading about actress Anna Cleveland James!
I'm not going to put everything that I learned about her here, right now, but - just to jog some more memories or invite your interest:
The Eastern Star Home existed in Waterville for only ten years or so, and then the facilities were moved to Oriskany. Miss Cleveland, who had grown up in Waterville, had become a fairly famous actress in Hollywood and New York and purchased the property in 1918. By 1919 she's in Waterville at her home, "Illahee." Until then, she had stayed with her aunt, Mrs. Hermon Clarke, on Stafford Avenue. (The Clark home was the "mystery house" of about a year ago and - having been moved to acomodate the old school - is now the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Carentz on E. Bacon St.)
Miss Cleveland was married, first, to a Mr. Belknap or Buckley and they had a daughter Anna Cleveland . Then she was married to Harry James, father of her son, Cleveland James. Mr. James died in 1921, and so the actress and her two small children made their home at "Illahee," entertaining out-of town guests nearly all the time (according to the Social Column.) From time to time, she traveled to New York, appearing in George M. Cohen's original production of "So this is London" and also in some silent films. She once suggested opening a complete movie studio here in Waterville!
(Skipping over lots of stuff) In 1934 "Illahee" became a Tea Room / Rooming House during the summer - Mrs. Barton entertained her bridge club there - and was completely closed during the winter, when Mrs. James took an apartment else where.
And this is where Paul's memory really kicked in, and he wrote:
"Our family had moved to Waterville about 1940 (I was a four year old at the time so can't recall the exact date) and lived on Tower Ave. For some reason we moved to the Putnam Mansion (corner of Stafford and Main) around 1944-45 and had an apartment on the first floor. And living upstairs was this grand lady named - Mrs. James! If memory serves me correctly, she was a descendant of Pres. Cleveland. Another 'connection' was the fact that my father, Dudley, was a business associate of Mrs. James' son-in-law, Baron Baron. I have no way of knowing if that connection between Dad and Baron was a result of meeting the James'and Barons at the Putnam Mansion or some other way. Baron and Anna James Baron visited Mrs. James and their children, Jimmy and Barrie, and we (Ann and I) used to play together when they were there. Anna Baron used to play Chopin's Polonaise on their grand piano in the evening (when I was supposed to be getting to sleep) . Another interesting fact about Anna Baron: She was a member of the WASP's (Women Airforce Service Pilots) during WW II and I recall seeing her in uniform on some of her visits.
I'm assuming that Mrs. Anna Cleveland James is the same person I knew at the Putnam Mansion (AKA as the original Harding Nursing Home).
Thanks, Paul!
Thanks, Paul!
I'll put the rest of the story together for Heaps of History, later on, because there's much more to be told about both the house and the lady.
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Have a Great Day, Everyone!
